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Skinny Jeans & Sweaters: Why Hip-Hop Needs DMX Back

In the last few of years, it's become passé to make aggressive street music. Gone are the days when all you needed to make it in hip-hop was a stock thug persona and a song about how gangsta you are. 2010 marks the culmination of a slow, methodical softening of hip-hop by the infiltration of R&B, techno, and indie rock. Baggy jeans and oversized hoodies have been replaced with skinny jeans and cardigan sweaters. The era we came to know and love is over.

Hip-hop is supposed to make people uncomfortable, and it's always had an air of anti-authoritarianism embedded in the culture. So how exactly did we go from "Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nothin' To Fuck With" to Drake's cotton-soft "Find Your Love"? Rap music needs the anger back; it needs the unpredictability back; it needs DMX.

Why DMX? As far as mainstream artists are concerned, he's been one of the only rappers in recent memory who was able to retain street cred in the face of commercial success. DMX doesn't schmooze, he doesn't sell himself in GAP commercials, and he's always made hood music. The current landscape mirrors the late '90s, when hip-hop was knee-deep in the bling era and a young, fiery DMX hit the scene like a ton of bricks. Rather than reject DMX because he different than the music that ruled the airwaves, fans embraced and championed him for taking hip-hop back to its essence.

You can question the parallels between today's rap world and the bling era - which is routinely regarded as the dark ages - but I'm not the only one arguing: Jay-Z has been saying the same thing for the last year. Hov's been one of our main cultural icons for the better part of the last decade, and the gradual shift toward "sensitive" rap music hasn't been lost on him. His recent song "D.O.A." served as a call to arms for hip-hop to toughen up its act. When Jay rapped "Get somebody from BMF to talk on it, give this to a blood, let a crip walk on it", it wasn't simply an opportunity to name drop street crews. It was a 40-year-old man reminding younger artists what rap is supposed to represent. The current issue of Rolling Stone magazine features a Jay-Z interview in which he speaks candidly about hip-hop losing it's edge.

"I love the energy coming out of indie rock right now," he says, name-checking Grizzly Bear. "It has this rebellion thing that hip-hop is missing now, the thing that made hip-hop hip-hop."

But even if this were all true, could DMX possibly make a difference? These days, he's discussed more as a crack addict than a musician, and he hasn't put out a decent album in seven years. Up until a few months ago, I probably would have agreed with such an assessment, but after seeing Eminem kick a drug addiction and turn in Recovery this month, it's not out of the realm of possibility that DMX could also turn it around.

In fact, DMX is enrolled in a drug treatment facility as we speak and is reportedly doing well. Eminem and DMX's music suffered similarly as their addictions grew, so perhaps their artistic resurrections could mirror each other. Whether or not DMX manages to rid himself of his demons and make a return to hip-hop, someone needs to match his passion, energy, and raw emotion. We need "the idea" of DMX. Whether or not we get it from Earl Simmons or not has yet to be determined.

Many will question whether or not hip-hop needs to "take a step back" to a hyper-masculine, senselessly violent, morally bankrupt style of music. That's a fair debate, and to be honest I'd love to see some hip-hop artists continue down that path. But, at the same time, none of the softer artists of today speak for the hood. Rap music has always been a voice for the inner city, and I fear that the legacy will be left behind if lovey-dovey hip-hop artists like Kid Cudi, Drake, and B.O.B take a permanent spot in rap's forefront.

This isn't a call for the triumphant return of senseless thuggery in music; it's a plea for hip-hop to re-grow the balls that shriveled up and died in skinny jeans. Just imagine a music world where we don't have to depend on Nas to ruffle everyone's feathers and remind us why we love this. Hip-hop would be an amazing place if there were 10 different artists following in Nas' footsteps making albums dedicated to Africa, declaring "hip-hop is dead", and collectively scaring the stiffs at Universal Records with controversial titles. But in the meantime let's continue to hold hands, talk about our emotions, and listen to auto-tuned songs about girls we have crushes on.

By Dell Frost (MOG)